Don The Idea Guy

Creative powers beyond those of mere mortals…

When a customer (external or internal) questions a policy or procedure that is foisted upon them by the representative of a company/brand/department with whom they are “trying” to do business, that policy was put in place to make life easier for the company/brand/department — not the customer. February is a short month, and March 1 fell […]

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Is having the tool more important to your success, or is knowing the technique more important? A lot of people obsess over the latest social media sites (or the latest changes to social media sites) instead of obsessing over the content they develop and post to those sites. Having a solid knowledge of even the very […]

You hire a carpenter to come to your house to build something (I don’t know what he’s going to build, you hired him. What do you need? Bookcases? Let’s say bookcases…) He shows up wearing a t-shirt that says “Bob’s Carpentry” on it and he hands you a business card that has his title listed as […]

The new year always offers a first best chance to begin something brand new, or to simply begin anew. With the coming of the new year also came two immediate new project launches from The Idea Guy. The first was publishing a brand new book in a brand new format. The Yellow Sticky Guide to DONE […]

Are you providing support materials to your new clients? I don’t mean Sales support materials, I mean doing-business-with-us-after-you-buy support materials. Smart salespeople in the world of traditional Media (Radio, TV, Print) will sometimes warn their clients (especially clients who are first-time advertisers) that as soon as their ads begin to run, they should expect to get […]

The number of holiday sales emails this year is ridiculous! In past years I received one or two extra emails per list. Three was “aggressive”. But this year I’m getting three per day from some retailers and they simply don’t seem to care that their practice is annoying their list members and current customers. After all — we can just […]

Have you seen the movie starring Daniel Day-Lewis called “There Will Be Blood“? It’s an incredible film with lots of great actors in winning performances. Even if you’ve seen it before, the movie is worth a second look, if only for the infamous “I drink your milkshake” scene. Spoilers here, so if you haven’t seen […]

You just had a lousy interaction with a prospect and didn’t get the order. You may have even missed the opportunity to sell the next appointment. Or maybe you just fumbled the ball or simply know you weren’t at your best. The call ends or the meeting is over, and just like the old V8 juice commercial, you […]

If all you do is give the same answers to the same questions over and over everyday, your customers don’t need you. They have Google. If all you do is email a list of current prices to anyone who asks for them, your customers don’t need you. They have Google. If all you do is […]

Ever go into a store and have someone who worked there ask: “Can I help you?” Of course you have. And 9 times out of 10 you replied with a “No thanks, I’m just looking.” The words “Can I help you” simply BEG that response. It’s programmed into our psyche. We heard our parents say […]